BMW Manufacturing Workers Get PBX Functionality on Wireless Handsets

Sprint's Mobile Integration extends the PBX functionality to mobile phones and allows BMW MC to provide employees with significantly expanded mobility and accessibility. Employees now have a single voicemail, five-digit dialing within the operation, and a single phone number through which they can be reached by on- or off-site callers.

"When we selected Sprint, we also saw the opportunity to increase the capabilities of the device with features such as SMS text messaging and the 'push to talk' feature," says Seaborne. In fact, the plant was able to consolidate its Land Mobile Radio (LMR), paging, text messaging, and automated system alerting requirements into a single device. The solution integrates with BMW MC's existing VoIP deployment as well as using wireless cellular. However, it is not integrated into the facility's WiFi network. "One beauty of the system was that the integration was very simple," notes Seaborne.

BMW MC can use the solution to establish profiles for users and define certain phone restrictions for select users, such as allowing only intra-company calls or time-of-day access. Because the signaling is taking place between BMW's PBX and Sprint's network, configuration management is centralized. This means changes can be made and automatically applied to one or many phones regardless of the type of phone. There is reduced trunk usage and all calls to and from mobile or wired devices -- including to voicemail, internal help desks, internal conferencing systems and calls to overseas colleagues -- are processed as intra-company calls.

As with any kind of change, though, there were some initial concerns from users, especially those who were transitioning for the first time from a desk phone to a wireless device. "When you take desk phones away from people and give them cellular devices to use 100% of the time, it can be a challenge," says Seaborne. "For example, people had to learn how to utilize all of the call features that they had on their desk phones, such as call forwarding and conference calls, on their cellular phones." However, according to Seaborne, Sprint offered an extensive training program, which helped the users make the transition smoothly.

While BMW MC declines to disclose financial results or metrics to demonstrate ROI, Seaborne says "These days, the vast majority of people like the change. They like the idea of having to only remember people's four-digit call extensions. They don't have to remember people's desk numbers and cell numbers. In addition, it is easier for them to reach people when they need to do so. Communication is much faster and easier these days."